Language

Kvell (verb) kvel to be extraordinarily pleased; especially, to be bursting with pride, as over…

Pilcrow (noun) pil-kroh a paragraph mark. First recorded around 1400–50. An apparent alteration of the…

Denouement (noun) dey-noo-mahn The final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a…

Bellwether (noun) bel-weth-er A person or thing that shows the existence or direction of a…

Gibberish (noun) jib-uh-rish meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing. 1545–55; apparently gibber + -ish, on…

Grok (verb) grok to understand thoroughly and intuitively. Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the…

Bissextile (noun) bi-secs-tile The leap year. First recorded in 1585–95 and from the word bissextus,…

Peculate (verb) pek-yu-layt to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public funds, or property entrusted…

Adumbrate (verb) ad-um-brayt To foreshadow; prefigure. First recorded in 1575–85 and comes from the past…